New recruits from Peoria

Denis Savage

08/29/2004

The San Diego Padres are making some last minute adjustments to their minor league affiliates and one of the moves that will be made on Sunday is the addition of four players from the Peoria squad of the Arizona Rookie League to the Eugene Emeralds of the Northwest League – and one is a surprise.

Matt Bush, the Padres first round pick in 2004 and the first player taken in the draft, will move up from Peoria to Eugene.

Bush was suspended earlier in the year because of an altercation outside a bar in Peoria. His suspension was lifted in mid-July and he got his first game experience on the 21st, going 1-for-4 with a run scored, a stolen base and an error. Since then his average has gone above .200 in just three games. For the most part, he has been a .160-.170 hitter with his final resting spot at .181 in 21 games played.

His best game came in his fifth game with Peoria when he went 2-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and two RBI's. Since then he has had just one other multi-hit game. His longest hitting streak of the year has been three games and he had a streak of three games with an RBI at the same time. He also had a 1-for-27 slump and has ten errors in his 21 games. He had two games where he committed multiple errors.

A hamstring injury limited some of his playing time as he was shut down on two separate occasions.

Over the last week, Eugene's regular shortstop has been playing second base. Sean Kazmar made the switch when he returned to the lineup on August 21 and has not seen shortstop since. He had not played second base all year before this week.

In his last game with Peoria on Saturday, Bush went 2-for-4 with two RBI's.

The other three recruits are all pitchers:

Adam Kroft has had a solid season with Peoria. He has not allowed more than three runs in any of his 13 appearances, eight of them starts. Over his last four games, spanning 22 innings, he has given up seven runs, six earned. Kroft, a 30th round pick by the Padres in 2004 out of the University of Albany, has given up 12 runs in his last eight outings, spanning 34.1 innings. He has lowered his ERA from 7.94 to 4.14 in the process.

He is 3-0 with a 4.14 ERA on the year. In 45.2 innings of work he has allowed 41 hits and 14 walks while striking out 25.

Brandon Kintzler was a 40th round pick of the Padres in 2004. The right-hander out of Dixie Junior College has seen action in 21 games for Peoria and is 3-2 with a 2.38 ERA. He has been the Peoria Padres closer, netting six saves.

Kintzler has not had an ERA above 2.79 this year and that was in his third game of the year. Prior to his last outing, where he took the loss after allowing three runs, two earned, on three hits and a walk, he had given up runs in just one of his previous 14 outings. Kintzler has given up runs in just five of his twenty appearances on the year, all in relief.

In 34 innings of work, Kintzler has given up 36 hits and nine walks while striking out 38.

Originally, Peoria had planned to promote Christopher Rayborn, a draft-and-follow signee prior to the 2004 draft out of Meridian Junior College, but instead brought up E.J. Shanks from Peoria.
Puzzling:
The only surprise is that Benjamin Krosschell is not among the players being elevated by the Padres. Krosschell has been dominant of late. He leads all starters in ERA at 2.42, has started more games than any other with 11, leads the team in innings pitched with 48.1 and also leads the team in strikeouts with 40. His 1-3 record does not do him justice as his bullpen continually has blown leads for him.